Unintended Consequences
by TokyoGirl7
Summary: Tatsumiya Kaede's intentional actions always become unintentional, especially with a crazy grandfather and unique family tradition. But now when things are beginning to change around her, unintended consequences will arise: both good and bad. IchixOC
1. A Change in the Wind

**Disclaimer: Bleach, characters and plot line, belongs to Tite Kubo. Any other character and plot lines belong to me.**

**Edit: Chapter has been updated as of 11/6/13.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: A Change in the Wind<p>

When it comes to life, you do things intentionally or unintentionally. For myself, things start off intentional but it soon becomes unintentional. Sociologist Robert K. Merton, who popularized the idea of unintended consequences, states that there are three categories this ideology will fall under: one, a positive, unforeseen benefit; two, a negative, unforeseen disadvantage occurring in addition to the desired effect; three, when an intended solution makes a problem worse.

Every action that I tend to do falls under one of these categories. But with my lifestyle, I need to learn from those mistakes and try to not commit them again. I blame my grandfather for this.

"Kaede-chan! Time for you to wake up!" Ojii-san's voice resonated throughout the sanctuary of my room.

"Five more minutes," I mumbled from underneath my leaf green colored comforter.

"Kaito! Your daughter isn't paying attention to me!" He shouted his complaint to my otou-san.

I swear that old man is going to be the death of me. If it isn't his form of "keeping the family tradition," it's going to be his complaints.

"Kaede, listen to your ojii-san before kaa-san wakes up and goes on her hormonal rampage," Otou-san shouted.

I take it back. My pregnant, hormonal okaa-san is going to be the death of me.

"I'm up!"

"Good," Ojii-san smiled. "Now hurry up and get dressed for school."

With that said, the old man left my room allowing me to grab all the clothes that I need before heading towards the bathroom. After taking a quick shower and doing all the necessary morning routines, I got dressed into my Karakura High School uniform. If there was one thing that I hated about the uniform that I am required to wear, it would have to be that red bow. I hate that thing so much with a passion. So instead, I just go on without it. Plus it gives me easy access for when I need to grab Kiba (fang) from around my neck. After arranging my black chin length pixie hair cut and making sure that Kiba was on properly, I left the bathroom and headed downstairs.

"Ohayo," I greeted with no enthusiasm. It's too early to be cheerful. Give me about an hour then I will be back to my normal self. I sat down next to ojii-san and inspected my breakfast before I began to eat it.

"Ah! You remembered the lesson that I gave you, Kaede-chan," Ojii-san patted my back.

"Of course I did," I said while in between bites of my eggs. "The last time I didn't I was in the hospital for two days."

"Otou-san, you should probably stop trying to kill Kaede. Or at least tone it down a bit," my otou-san defended me.

"Why you know I can't do that, Kaito. I have to make sure that Kaede-chan is in top shape and always prepared for anything. If it's the way of our ancestors, then we are going to continue that tradition!"

"Ojii-san, you are insane," I told him while staring at him with my dark brown eyes. I sighed and got up from my chair and placed my plate and chopsticks in the sink.

"Kaede-chan, why must you be so cruel! I am only trying to keep the Tatsumiya clan's tradition alive!"

"Just because we have ancestors that served under Tokugawa Ieyasu doesn't mean anything," I went to grab my black messenger bag from off the living room floor. "I am off to school."

"Do you have Kiba with you?" Otou-san asked.

I pulled the necklace from around my neck to reveal my kwaiken tantō sheathed blade that I was given for tenth birthday, "Yes I have Kiba with me."

"Good," Ojii-san said. "Oh, and Kaede-chan, can you do me the favor and go stop by Urahara Shōten and pick something up for me?"

"Hai," I replied while placing on my black Chucks. "Bye!"

"Have a good day! I already packed your lunch in your bag!"

"Don't get killed! And don't forget to make sure you hide your reiatsu!"

Oh how you can obviously tell who said what as I left my house. Making sure that Kiba was placed properly under my shirt, I began my way to school.

As you can see, my ojii-san is very into keeping our family tradition alive. Even though our ancestor's form of employment doesn't really exist anymore, unless you count assassins and stuff that comes from mangas and animes, he still insists that his family continues learning this. Otou-san had to go through the same training as I did, except I think it was way worse for me since I am a girl. But how do you explain to an old man that in this time era ninjas do not exist?

Our family, the Tatsumiya clan, apparently worked for the Tokugawa shogunate as ninjas. But from what ojii-san tells me, our family specialized in one thing, besides the usual scouting, assassinations, etc. That one this was killing demons or Hollows as ojii-san calls them. I do remember seeing a "Hollow" once as a child. Not only that, but I see spirits that have departed from our world. I remember the first time I saw one, I thought it was an imaginary friend that I made up that no one could see. Well that didn't work out since otou-san told me that he was able to see her and that it was actually a ghost. That's when my sense of imaginary friends died.

As I was nearing our school, I made sure that my reiatsu was hidden properly. Speaking of reiatsu, ever since that new student Kuchiki came, Kurosaki's reiatsu has spiked up a lot. Things have been getting weirder by the second. Maybe I should investigate sometime? That's when the ninja skills come to a good use.

"Ohayo, Kaede," I turned to look at the owner of the voice.

"Ah, ohayo, Chad," I waved at who you can probably say is my best friend.

The way my friendship with Yatsutora Sado, or Chad, started was rather interesting. It started with Chad being bullied by some idiots in our eighth grade class to try and get him mad, but in the end, it got me pissed off since I was trying to study for an upcoming exam. Let's just say that I kinda punched them into oblivion. And with this friendship comes the acquaintances of Kurosaki Ichigo, Kojima Mizuiro, and Asano Keigo.

"How's it going?" I asked the teen as we walked into the building and changed into our school shoes.

"It's alright. How are you?"

"Can't complain, even though I think ojii-san tried sending me to the hospital again," I told him as we made our way up the staircase and into the hallway that led us to our classroom, 1-3.

"How did he try this time?" Chad asked as we walked into the classroom.

"I think he tried to poison my food, again."

Chad didn't fully know I was a ninja. Instead, the only details that he knew is that my ojii-san is a crazy old man who likes to tease his granddaughter and torture her. That sounds like a normal grandfather, right?

Right as I neared my desk I had an accidental run in with someone. More like a run in with someone's assets.

"Ah! Gomen, Kaede-chan!" Inoue, Orihime apologized as she started spazzing to make sure I didn't have injuries.

"It's okay, Orihime-san. I'm alright," I patted the girl in the head. Why must I be taller than all of the girls here? At least my breasts are bigger than some of them, but not like Orihime-san's. Hooray for C-cups!

Anyways…

"Kaede-chan, do you wanna have lunch with us today up on the roof? I have an amazing story that I need to tell you all!" Orihime-san asked as she took a seat.

"Sure, Orihime-san."

"Yatta!"

"Oi, what's with the noise?" Arisawa, Tatsuki walked towards us. Another close friend of mine, just like Orihime-san, except we don't use honorifics with each other.

Orihime-san turned towards her with a smile, "Kaede-chan is joining us girls for lunch today!"

'Other girls? Crap that means Ryō-san is going to be there. Woman is gonna try and force me again to join the track and field team,' a sweatdrop adorned my head once the thought occurred.

But the thought instantly disappeared when Kuchiki walked through our classroom's door with Kurosaki behind her. Seriously, things have gotten stranger ever since she arrived. Especially when she drags Kurosaki out of the classroom when he suddenly "looks ill." One of these days I'll figure out what's up behind that rehearsed smile. Oh crap, class is starting.

Lunch had finally arrived and Orihime literally bounced out of her seat and grabbed my arm to drag me to the roof top. Behind us was the usual group of girls that I hung out with when I'm not with the boys: Ryō-san, Michiru-san, Mahana-san, Chizuru-san, and Tatsuki. Once we were up on the roof, I took notice that Chad and the other boys were there, including Kuchiki.

"Kaede-san, have you considered my offer for joining the track and field team?" Ryō-san asked.

I sighed, "For the last time, it's still a no. I have a pregnant okaa-san that needs my help at home."

"How many months is she now?" Michiru-san asked as she took out her lunch.

"Four months," I told her before biting my salmon onigiri.

It was silent for a moment until Orihime-san thought this was the perfect time to tell her story of what happened the night before with Tatsuki. After hearing her whole story, I was staring at her whether she was insane or over-imagining things.

"It's true, I'm telling you!" She exclaimed while holding her bento. "A Sumo champion _really_ came to my apartment and blew a hole in the wall with a gun."

"You and that story again," Mahana-san said while placing her hand on her hip. "Try something with a bit more realism. Like a pro-wrestler came and had an out-of-ring grudge match or something."

"Well, I really like that mischievous mind of yours, 'Hime," Chizuru-san said before sipping her juice box.

"Please, Chizuru-san, save it for when we are not eating," I told her before taking another bite.

"It's _really true_!" Orihime-san shouted. "Right, Tatsuki-chan?"

"Yeah," Tatsuki defended Orihime-san.

"Wow!" Mahana-san exclaimed.

"You're telling the same story, Tatsuki?!" Chizuru-san sounded like she was in shock.

"I mean, its like," Tatsuki tried to explain, but the girls kept on interfering.

"Shut up!" I shouted. The girls remained silent now that they were told to be quiet. "If Tatsuki states what happened was true since she was there, then it's true. Now can we please continue on with lunch before times up?"

With that, the finally did calm down and begin talking about what girls normally talk about: everything.

"Kaede-chan, do you want to come over after school to work on today's assignments?" Orihime-san asked me.

I shook my head, "Sorry Orihime-san, I can't today. Ojii-san asked me to run an errand for him. Maybe some other time."

Lunch and the remainder of school go by and now I am free! I waved goodbye to my friends and made my towards the direction that would be taking me to Urahara Shōten. I used to go to this store a lot when I was little when ojii-san would take me for walks. The owner of the store would give me free candy all the time. Mmm, candy.

I lost track of how long I have been walking but realized that I have arrived at my destination when I saw two kids cleaning outside of the shop. The first was a little girl with purple eyes and long, black hair, held by pink ties, with a purple tint and two strands of her bangs that part in the middle of her face, opposing each other. She was wearing a white shirt that had the store's name written in pink and a knee-length, pink skirt with white dots.

'She's so cute! I don't remember her being here when I was younger.'

The boy next to her, that was more into swinging the broom than using it to clean, had red hair and was wearing a white t-shirt with the shop's logo printed on the front and blue three-quarter length trousers, the bottoms of which are turned up.

'Not cute.'

I walked up to the two and once they noticed my presence the stop doing what they were doing.

"Uh, hi. I was wondering if the owner is in. I have to pick something up for my ojii-san," I smiled at the two awkwardly.

"You're pretty," the little girl suddenly announced making the blush on her face grow more out of embarrassment.

I laughed and bent down to look at the girl, "You're pretty too. I love your hair."

"Ururu, this old lady ain't pretty," the boy said out of nowhere while picking his nose.

My face immediately went blank as I stood up and towered over the little boy, "What was that!"

"Jinta! Ururu! Who's outside?" A voice from inside the store shouted.

"A customer," the little girl, named Ururu, answered. She grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the red haired brat and led me inside.

The store looks exactly like how I remembered it as a child. Sitting at what presumably looks like the end of the store, sat the owner of the shop. The shop owner, Urahara-san, is a tall and lean-built man with light skin and gray eyes. His hair is messy and light-blond with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes and chin stubble. He was wearing his usual green and white stripped bucket hat along with a dark green shirt and pants, topped with a black coat with a white diamond pattern along its bottom half.

"Hello, Urahara-san," I approached the man.

"My, my, is that who I think it is? Kaede-chan, how long has it been?" Urahara-san grinned. "You have definitely matured since the last time I saw you."

'And you are still a pervert,' I thought. "It's been a while. Anyways, I am here to pick something up for my ojii-san."

He smiled under the shadow that his bucket hat was casting, "And how is Fumito-san? Is he still telling you stories about the Seireitei?"

Once, ojii-san brought me over as a kid, Urahara-san and he would tell me stories of this place. They both even said that my form of training was done there under a squad that was numbered two.

"Still his crazy self," I replied. "And he hasn't told me anymore stories since I practically know them all."

Another smile appeared on his face and he slightly moved to grab a box that was behind him. He handed it over to me, "Well here is what Fumito-san was asking for. Please make sure that he doesn't drop this since it is fragile. These are high quality items."

"Right," I nodded my head as I stood up. "I'll make sure of it. Thank you Urahara-san."

"Please come over and visit more often," He said while pulling out his wooden fan.

Again I shook my head and made my way out of shop to the two kids out there again. I waved goodbye to Ururu-chan, ignoring the red head completely. All I know is that as I walked away, I heard the kid complaining as to why he was being mistreated and how Ururu was being treated so nicely. Looking up towards the sky I took notice that it twilight was close meaning that I should be heading home soon if I don't want to get in trouble by ojii-san. As I turned the corner to my street, I almost ran into someone.

"Ah, sorry about that," I apologized to the person. And that's when I noticed I almost ran into Kurosaki and Kuchiki. "Oh hey, Kurosaki. Kuchiki-san."

"Do I know you?" Kuchiki-san asked confused.

'Does she not know we are in the same class together?' I furrowed my brows together.

"She's in our class, idiot," Kurosaki told her.

Reiatsu was seriously leaking off of his body. And there is a small amount coming from Kuchiki too. But it feels like it's disappearing from her body completely.

"Oh! Kuchiki, Rukia," she introduced herself to me while curtsying.

What the hell?

"Tatsumiya, Kaede. Nice to formally meet you," I smiled. "Well, it was nice running into you both. I should head home before ojii-san kills me."

Literally.

"Ah, we'll see you in class tomorrow," Kurosaki nodded his head.

"Bye-bye," Kuchiki waved.

"Bye," I said before continuing towards my house.

Like I said before, something weird is going on. In roughly about ten minutes, I finally made it home and just in time for dinner.

"I'm home!" I shouted before kicking off my shoes and dropping my messenger bag onto the floor. "Ojii-san, I have your package!"

I walked into the kitchen to find my okaa-san and otou-san preparing for dinner. Ojii-san was nowhere to be found. Well, that's what I thought.

Out of nowhere, a blade just appeared on the side of my face causing me to drop onto my knees so I could avoid that attack. Ojii-san, with the blade in hand, ran towards me and in return I began jumping on top of all the furniture to avoid being stabbed.

"Can't you see I have your package, old man?!" I shouted while trying to avoid being killed. "Couldn't we have a training session after I finish dinner?!"

"A ninja never has breaks and must always be aware of their surroundings!" He ignored my requests and kept on attacking me.

As safely as I could, I placed the package on the ground and grabbed Kiba from around my neck. Pulling the fully black sheath except for the single red stripe, I revealed my blade. Running back to the old man, I began my conquest to try and disarm him.

"That's more like it!" Ojii-san shouted.

And right when the good stuff was about to happen, we were both smacked in the back of our heads.

"If you two are going to fight like this in my house, I will make sure you repair all of the damages by yourselves! Isn't this why we have a small dojo in the back of the house?!" Okaa-san shouted at us.

"We're sorry," Ojii-san and I apologized.

Just like that she smiled, "Good. Dinner is ready."

"Ojii-san, I have your package," I told him once okaa-san was out of sight.

This man is insane. I swear. One minute he intends on trying to kill me and now he is hugging me all because I brought him his package. Handing it over to him, I waited anxiously as he opened it up.

"Yes! He got the sakes I wanted!" I toppled over after hearing this. The fragile items were sake bottles? Alcohol?!

"You alcoholic!" I shouted.

"There is something in here for you as well," Ojii-san said as he pulled out a black choker that had a silver charm of a skull surrounded by fire.

"It's pretty," I told him as I grabbed it.

"It's a gift from Urahara-san and I. It's a charm to let you know if there are any Hollows around you," Ojii-san told me as he placed it around my neck.

"How would I know?" I asked him with a hint of curiosity.

"I guess you will just have to wait and find out. Oh and please start doing me a favor and start carrying around Gesshoku (lunar eclipse) and Nisshoku (solar eclipse). It will let this old man feel more at ease if you carry your kodachis around."

"Sure, Ojii-san," I told him with uncertainty.

He patted my back, "Good! Now let's go eat dinner. Since we had a mini-session today, I'll let you off the hook for tonight!"

"Jeez, thanks."

After dinner, I went to grab my shoes and my messenger bag and made my way up to my bedroom. Once I closed the door of my sanctuary, I walked towards my bed and sat on the ground to pull out what I was looking for.

A black box was what I was looking for and once I grabbed it, I pulled it out and moved to sit on my bed. Opening it I found the contents just how I last left them. Gesshoku was on the right with a black sheath and orange hilt. Nisshoku, on the other hand, was on the left with a black sheath and red hilt.

"Hello my pretties!" I giggled as I pulled out Nisshoku and removed it from its sheath.

Grabbing the cleaning material that was underneath of the kodachi, I began to clean my weapons. I don't know why, but why I clean my weapons, nothing comes to mind. It's just blank. Once I finished cleaning the two, I grabbed my holster that would go underneath my shirt on my lower back, meaning that it would be tied around my stomach.

As soon as I got everything prepared, I did my homework for tomorrow and soon after, pulled out a manga to read. But that's when something came to mind.

How all these unintentional events first started: Kuchiki Rukia's transfer; Kurosaki's sudden growth of his reiatsu; Urahara-san wanting me to come over more often after not seeing me for years; and now, ojii-san giving me a Hollow detecting necklace and wanting me to carry around my weapons? All of this isn't a coincidence.

With my mind filled so many thoughts, I decided to grab some fresh air. Opening the window inside my room next to my bed, I stepped onto the window sill and turned slowly to grab onto the edge of the roof. Using my upper body strength, I pulled myself up and once I was sure I wasn't going to fall, I sat down with my legs against my chest.

"What's ojii-san telling me that I don't know?" I touched the new choker. "There is a change in the wind and I don't know how or when it's going to strike."


	2. First Encounters, the Good and Bad Kind

**Disclaimer: Bleach, characters and plot line, belongs to Tite Kubo. Any other character and plot lines belong to me.**

**Edit: Chapter has been updated as of 11/6/13.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: First Encounters, the Good and Bad Kind<p>

"Jeez, it feels awkward walking with Gesshoku and Nisshoku on my lower back," I complained as I made my way to school.

Today I decided to change up my uniform a bit. I wore the usual grey skirt, white blouse, and grey blazer, but instead I left the blazer unbuttoned, shirt untucked, and was wearing thigh high black socks so that I could strap Kiba underneath the sock. Around my neck was the choker that Urahara-san and ojii-san had given me. I got swag, ne?

Making my way to the front of the school building, I found it odd that Chad wasn't here yet.

"Maybe he's running late," I shrugged while changing out of my chucks and into the school shoes.

Going up the stairs and into the hallway, I walked into my classroom hoping to find Chad already there. He wasn't. Like I said, he must be running late. Hopefully he makes it to class on time.

Class continued on with me glancing occasionally towards the door waiting for Chad to come in. After the first bell rang, signaling it was time for our next class, I was really getting worried. Chad wasn't the type to just not show up to school, especially when he looked completely fine the day before. There must have been an emergency or something. Yeah, an emergency. Jeez, it sounds like I am overreacting, but I can't help it. The man is my best friend.

It was until lunch time when Chad finally showed up, right when I was about to leave the classroom and head towards the roof.

"Chad! Are you alright?" I freaked when I saw him bandaged up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But the guy that was on his motorcycle that collided with me was much worse, so I carried him to the hospital."

There have been many times when I have seen Chad injured, but this was worse. I sometimes wonder what this kid is made of. Not only that but he had a birdcage which had a white cockatiel with red cheeks and brown eyes. Staring at the bird, I felt some weird vibe coming out of it.

"Where did you get the bird?" I asked.

"Yesterday night, after a steel girder fell on top of me."

I almost toppled to the ground after hearing that statement, "Chad, are you sure you alright? Maybe you need to go to the hospital or something."

"I'm fine. Let's go eat lunch," He said leading the way towards the roof.

I followed behind with my usual packed onigiri. My eyes kept looking at the bird, who was staring right back at me. As soon as my mouth was about to open up to say something about the cockatiel, we were already at the roof. Already there was Kurosaki, Kuchiki-san, Asano, and Kojima. Chad and I walked up to the group and right when Asano accidentally bumped into Chad, that's when our presence was noted.

"Hey, Chad. Tatsumiya," Kurosaki greeted us from where he was sitting.

"Hey," I greeted as Chad just lifted his hand, his own form of greeting.

"You're…injured."

Asano turned around to get a good look at Chad, "Whoa, it's true. What happened?"

"The one on my head is from a steel girder that fell on me yesterday," Chad began to explain his injuries.

"_A steel girder_!" Asano's reaction was way too overreacting.

"The one on my hand and arm is from a head-on collision with a motorcycle. The rider was hurt badly, so I carried him to the hospital and just got back."

"So that's why you're late."

Kurosaki had a sweatdrop on his head as he spoke, "More like, I'm _still_ wonderin' what the heck you're _made of_?"

"That's the same thing I was thinking when I found him before coming up here," I told the group while Chad placed the cockatiel's cage onto the floor.

"Hey, what's with the bird?" Asano asked as he began to stare at it.

And that's when the unthinkable happened. The bird actually spoke a proper sentence, "Hello, my name is Shibata Yuichi. What is your name?"

'That's not normal,' I thought as I stared in disbelief. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who got a weird vibe from the bird. Kurosaki and Kuchiki-san both made a face that showed what they were just witnessing was not normal.

"Whoa!" Asano moved closer to the bird, "This thing can seriously talk! My name is Asano Keigo. Say it."

"Chad, where'd you get this cockatiel?" Kurosaki asked.

"Yesterday," Chad paused. "I got it."

"Wait one minute!" Asano shouted while pointing at Chad, "You got lazy in the middle and shortened the story just now, didn't you? This is a bad habit. Tell us, tell us everything."

While Asano kept on shouting, Chad sat down in front of the bird and began to feed it.

"I didn't shorten it."

"Nooo, you did! You know-"

"Asano, please shut up," I interrupted him once I sat down next to Chad.

"Tatsumiya-chan! You must know the story since you're best friends with him!"

"It's how he said it. He got it yesterday," I told him while taking out my lunch.

As I took a bite of my food, thoughts about the bird kept revolving around my head, 'There is something about this bird. I know it's not something evil, but I should probably investigate tonight. Ojii-san has wanted me to keep on practicing at night more often, especially scouting.'

My mind was really focused on the bird that I didn't notice someone staring right at me until I felt a creepy feeling. I turned my head to see who it was.

'Kuchiki-san, you need to make it less obvious that you are staring at me,' I thought before turning my head back and focusing on the bird.

It was finally night time, close to midnight to be exact; my time to investigate what was going on. Changing out of my school uniform, I began to place my "ninja uniform" that ojii-san designed for me. I placed on my mid-thigh black shorts that already had holsters attached on the back to hold my kodachis. My dark red sleeve-less shitagi was placed on next and on top of that was a black sleeve-less kosode that had a black hood sewn onto it to cover my face since I wasn't that into wearing a mask that would cover half of my face. To make sure the kosode and shitagi stayed in place, I wrapped a dark red sash around my waist.

"Not bad, old man. You do actually have a taste in style."

I went into my closet and pulled out the last two things that I needed to complete my outfit. Grabbing the below-the-knee length black boots with pockets, both inside and outside, I placed them on. Inside the pockets held smoke pellets, bandages, and other necessary items incase if I was to get injured. I preferred the boots rather than the traditional long jika-tabi because it was more modern and I have been practicing with these since I was kid.

"I should maybe start wearing these boots to school," I thought aloud as I placed Kiba inside of my right boot.

The last thing I placed was my past-the-elbow black gloves that had a black metal plate covering. Seeing that I was fully dressed, I grabbed Gesshoku and Nisshoku from where I had last left them and placed them into their holsters. I walked towards my window and barely opened it when the door to my room opened.

"Oh and where you plan on going, Kaede-chan?" Ojii-san asked as he walked in. His grey, short hair was messy while his dark brown eyes revealed that he was wide awake. Something which I believe a fifty-two year old should not be.

"I thought I would do a little practice outside tonight. You know, maybe see what this choker does when those demons are around," I told him while leaning against the wall next to the window.

"Hollows, Kaede-chan. They are called Hollows," Ojii-san corrected me.

"Sorry. For a moment, I forgot you called them Hollows since it's exactly like the monsters you would tell me as a kid in those Seireitei and Soul Society stories."

Ojii-san simply smiled at the comment, "Remember that if you plan on tracking someone, try and concentrate on their reiatsu. And if you focus hard enough, you can probably be even able to grab their reiraku (spirit thread)."

"Thanks, ojii-san," I smiled before making my way to the window. Stepping onto the window sill, I turned to look at him while placing on the hood, "Don't stay up waiting for me."

And then I jumped off the window sill to grab hold of the roof tiles. I pulled myself up and once I had the proper footing, I began running.

Now the coolest thing about all my training was how fast I could now run and how far I can jump. When I first started this part of training, it was hell. I would always end up with various forms of cuts and bruises, but ojii-san was always there with a hand to lift me back up and encourage me to try again. Thanks to him, I can run and jump long distances. All of this is why Ryō-san kept pestering me to join the track and field team.

Seeing that I lived not too far away from Chad, maybe roughly about six streets away, the trek towards his house was by far easy. Since I always practiced in this neighborhood, I knew how to time my jumps from each building and the objects I need to grab in order to achieve making it on top of a building.

In a matter of ten minutes, give or take, I had arrived at his house. I silently moved to get a look at his bedroom window to see whether he or the cockatiel would be in there, but to my disappointment, they weren't. Thinking that it was odd, I decided to take a look and see whether his window was open. While carefully balancing myself, I began to see whether the window would open. To my relief, it did and just like that I slipped into his room.

"Definitely not in his room," I whispered to myself.

His place was just like how it looked every time I stopped for a visit: clean. It actually puts mine to shame. Walking out of the bedroom to check in all the other rooms, I found it pitch black. Not a single light was on here. Even his bathroom light was off.

"If they both aren't here, then where the hell are they? How the hell am I supposed to find him now?"

That's when ojii-san's words came into mind. I could always try and track them based off of their reiatsu. But Chad doesn't have any. Well none that is entirely noticeable. But that's when it hit me.

"The cockatiel!"

Closing my eyes, I began to try and remember the feel of the cockatiel's spirit. Considering that I have never done this before, I wasn't sure whether this was going to work out. My first attempt was a complete fail.

"How the hell am I supposed to do this!" I complained, "Why did ojii-san recommend me try that method?"

Looking down at the floor, I noticed something that resembled like a feathered quill. Bending down to grab it, I found it to be one of the feathers from the cockatiel.

'I wonder,' I stared at the feather.

Closing my eyes, I held the feather's tip towards the center of my forehead. The sudden smell and touch of the feather flowed through my entire body and that's when I starting feeling something even though no reiraku appeared before me.

"Alright, so that's how it is supposed to work," a grin came onto my face.

In a minute, I recognized the bird's reiatsu, but what surprised me was that this bird actually had a human's spirit in it! More specifically a little boy! Something horrible must have happened to him. I dropped the feather and watched it float down slowly. I looked towards the window with more determination to get to the bottom of this. In no time, I left just as the same way I entered.

I ran through the roofs just to realize that the reiatsu of the boy is nowhere in our neighborhood. Jumping off a roof, I began to run on the streets back towards the direction of where I lived, while making sure that I stayed within the shadows. Having to cross the bridge over Karasu River, I had an awkward feeling as to where both Chad and the bird, or kid, were going to be at.

"I hope that my gut feeling is for once wrong," I muttered as I began to make my way up a tree and jump onto a random houses' roof.

Following the boy's reiatsu, I finally arrived on top of the roof where both he and Chad were in. As I looked down from the roof top, I found another roof ledge that I can easily land on and a window to look and see whether the two are in there. I got on my knees and slowly moved off the roof, gripping the edge, and safely landing.

"Ah, crap."

Inside the bedroom I was peeking into, I found Kurosaki sleeping. His reiatsu wasn't the only one that was in there. I felt Kuchiki's reiatsu from somewhere inside as well. As I was about to turn and jump down to the bottom, seeing that this floor was mostly bedrooms, one of my kodachi's hit the window and created a rather loud noise. Kursaki immediately woke up and looked towards the window. I was grateful that I was wearing mostly all black and that is was dark, so that it can hide me, especially since he was moving closer to the window. Looking from left to right for somewhere to hide, I found a perfect hiding spot just around the corner and ran to it. In my moment of panic, I realized that my reiatsu wasn't hidden.

'I hope he can't sense reiatsu!'

Waiting for three minutes felt like an eternity, but I had to make sure that he went back to bed. Noticing that his reiatsu has calmed down, I decided to just jump off the roof from my hiding spot to avoid something like that happening again. Once I touched the grass, I ran to every window to look for Chad. On my second try, I found him there laying down on one of the hospital beds that Kurosaki's otou-san has for his clinic. Next to the bed was the cockatiel inside of his cage with such a sad face as it was sleeping.

'I'll deal with this tomorrow since I really don't want to break into another house right now,' I thought before turning around and running back home in the shadows.

"Eh, it's too early!" I complained the next morning once I walked downstairs to eat breakfast.

My blazer was open and my button-up shirt was untucked since both of my kodachi's were currently placed on my lower back. Once again I had on my thigh high black socks with Kiba hidden and this time I did decide to wear my ninja boots.

"That's your fault, Kaede," Okaa-san lectured me as she placed my plate of food in front of where I should be sitting. Her long brown hair was kept down today. Her light brown eyes then looked back at me and said, "What were you doing so late at night?"

"Practicing no doubt," Otou-san looked at me with his brown eyes in a serious matter. He ran his hand through his black spiked hair, "Were you careful this time?"

"Yes, I was otou-san. I'm not a little kid anymore."

So maybe as a child I would sneak out to practice, but seeing that since this was in the middle of the night I thought that it would be alright since everyone was asleep. Of course my parents disagreed with the idea, especially right after when you are being escorted by police officers back to your house for being out late at night without a guardian. Back to the present, I quickly finished my breakfast and was handed my bento for school. With a quick goodbye, I left the house.

I was barely outside of my gate when a sudden shock overcame my body. The choker around my neck suddenly glowed and shot out a beam of light leading me towards a certain direction.

"A demon must be around," I muttered to myself as I touched the choker.

But something felt completely odd once I touched it. There was fabric on top of the leather. Quickly pulling out a compact mirror from my backpack, I learned what the hell had happened. A black mask was covering half of my face from my nose and down to the choker.

'Ojii-san, you are gonna get it when I come back home!'

Once the thought left my head, I threw my backpack over my gate and began to run towards the direction of where the beam of light was taking me. While running, all thoughts were out of my mind. It would be the first time that I would actually face a demon on my own. The one and only time I had faced a demon was two years ago when I was with otou-san.

As soon as I was near, I heard what sounded like an explosion and that was where the beam of light was leading me to. Immediately I ran up a wall, which I had learned to do since I was little, to climb one of the closest trees so that I could analyze the demon and see what my situation would be.

'Kuchiki-san! Chad!'

Down below was Chad, who actually managed to punch the demon. On his back of his floral yellow print shirt was blood that was shaped like if he was stepped on. Knowing that the demon had attacked my best friend, I got pissed. The demon itself was ugly. To me, it resembled a frog with retractable bat wings on his arms. Bat-like fur was around its neck and it had bat-like feet.

'Holy crap! I didn't know Chad was _that_ strong!'

Chad had somehow managed to break in half an electricity pole made out of wood and began to use it as a weapon. Once he learned which direction to hit, he swung the pole and hit the demon.

Kuchiki-san ran towards the demon, with Chad behind her, "Now, give up. Someone who can get rid of you will be here soon."

The demon simply laughed.

"What's so funny?" She exclaimed.

"Geez," the demon began as it started to get up. "That's why every one of you Shinigamis gets beaten by us!"

'Shinigami! They're actually real?'

All of a sudden, rustling was heard in the bushes that were around the tree I was in and the ones across. I saw movement and that's when I noticed these weird bug-looking creatures. Immediately, they jumped out and attached themselves to Chad and Kuchiki-san.

The demon laughed, "This is what they call a reversal of fortune. You damn Shinigamis underestimate us Hollows, that's why stuff like this happens to you. Let's see, which should I eat first…"

"How about neither one of them!" I suddenly shouted.

Unintentionally, I revealed my presence.

"Oh, another Shinigami to play with," the demon chuckled.

Pulling out Gesshoku, I jumped out of the tree I was in and making sure that I was in level with the sun. Since the demon, or should I start saying Hollow, looked directly towards the sun, it blinded itself. This gave me the perfect opportunity to slice his right shoulder causing him to scream in pain.

Flicking Gesshoku to remove the blood and placing it back on its sheath, I glared at the Hollow, "I'm no Shinigami. I'm a Ninja."

That's when I heard Chad behind me grunting. I turned to look and with such a force, he removed those creatures off of him.

"What the hell!" The Hollow shouted in shock, "H-H-H-H-H-How reckless the two of you are! You gonna let yer muscles and little sword do that talking and take care of every little thing. You muscle-boun-"

Chad threw a punch, almost hitting him. Seeing that he the Hollow was distracted by Chad, I ran over to Kuchiki-san and kicked those little bastards off of her.

"Are you alright?" I asked her while helping her stand.

"Who are you?" She asked me, eyeing the fact that we had on the same uniform.

"I don't think this is the time for that. Just know that I'm here to help. I'll tell you who I am later, but we gotta focus on the Hollow who is currently flying up towards the sky," I pointed up towards the Hollow.

"You can see it?"

"Of course."

"You're not a Shinigami."

"Nope. Just a human like Chad over there, but with my own reiatsu that allows me to do things others would dream of."

We turned to look at Chad who was still punching the air in front of him trying to find the Hollow.

"No, not there," Kuchiki-san told him. "In the sky!"

"The sky?" He questioned.

"I have an idea."

After she quickly explained her method, a sweatdrop adorned my head, "Kuchiki-san, I'll use my own method if you don't mind. You know, to double team."

She nodded her head and that's when they got ready. I moved towards the nearest electricity pole and waited for her to shout go.

"Launch!"

Immediately focusing on my reiatsu, I ran up the telephone pole. When I was little, this was one of the first techniques I learned in case I had to run away from a demon. The way I learned this was through ojii-san scaring me half to death.

Once I was at the top of the pole, I pulled out Gesshokue and Nisshoku. The Hollow began to freak once it took notice of Kuchiki-san getting close, but soon a malicious grin appeared and so did one of those little creatures.

"Kuchiki-san!" I shouted as I jumped.

The Hollow immediately took notice of me and had its little creature launch itself and spit those things at me. I managed to slice the creature and a few of those things, but three latched themselves onto my shoulders and left arm where I held Nisshoku. As I fell, I prepared myself to land and once I did, I was relieved to see that Chad had caught Kuchiki-san.

"Damn it, what _are_ these? Leeches?" I heard Kuchiki-san as I walked over to her.

"I can't remove them either," I told her as I was ready to attempt trying to cut them with my dual kodachis.

"Exactly," the Hollow finally flew down. "They don't come off easily and I wouldn't cut them if I were you. Plus, those are my targets."

All of a sudden, a screech-like sound was heard coming from the Hollow. That was when pain hit both me and Kuchiki-san. The leeches had exploded on us. My upper body was in pain and I could see blood slowly start to seep through my clothes.

"Transfer student! Girl! What happened?" Chad looked at us worried.

"Surprised? Those leeches are mini bombs. They resonate with the sound from my tongue and explode. Geez! Lettin' yer guard down."

"That fucking asshole," I cussed as I stood up slowly and watched Chad walk towards the Hollow.

And that's when the Hollow did the most horrible move ever. It now had the cockatiel with him.

"Oh, he ran away just now to buy time to bring that here," Kuchiki-san watched.

"Shibata," I heard Chad.

The Hollow smiled, "Looks like you understand, huh, big boy. Now then, it's time to play with you, little Miss Shinigami and Ninja."

I moved towards Kuchiki-san and stood in front of her as he continued.

"Run around! So I can have fun hunting you two women."

Kuchiki-san stood up behind me slowly and spoke, "Don't move from here, Chad. If you move an inch, it intends to blow up the birdcage."

"Transfer student, girl, what about you two?" Chad asked.

"You don't need to worry about us," I told him.

"I won't slip up. I've promised that. That's fine with you?" Kuchiki-san asked me.

"Sounds fine with me."

"Promised?" Chad questioned.

I already had a feeling as to who it was that she had made a promise to; most especially seeing that said person isn't here at the moment.

"Let's go," I told her.

Just like that, we both ran.


	3. Facing A New Reality

**Hello all! First and foremost, I would like to say that I am so sorry for not uploading. At first, I really did lost the inspiration to write any of my stories. I felt like I didn't have anymore time and all. It was until someone on Tumblr told me that they actually read my stories that it inspired me to come back and see what I can do with this Ichigo story as well as my Morinozuka Takashi story. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I know it's a challenge for me to write any fighting/actiony scenes, so if you have any tips, let me know. Thanks any enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Bleach, characters and plot line, belongs to Tite Kubo. Any other character and plot lines belong to me.**

**Edit: Chapter has been updated as of 11/6/13.**

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><p>Chapter 3: Facing a New Reality<p>

As I ran, I could only think of what I just had gotten myself into. I had fallen under category number two of unintended consequences: a negative, unforeseen disadvantage occurring in addition to the desired effect. I initially tried to help the situation at hand with Kuchiki-san but in the end, I had gotten myself injured and now running from those little creatures and the Hollow.

"Turn here," Kuchiki-san told me in between breaths.

I followed her directions and just kept on running. We were both getting tired thanks to the injuries that we received not too long ago and it didn't help that those little creatures from before were now next to each of us. I looked down and saw its head opening, revealing the bomb leeches that had injured us earlier. Not caring about the possible consequences, I pulled out Nisshoku and jumped upwards to avoid being hit by the two creatures. Kuchiki-san had the same idea that I had.

Unfortunately for the both of us, something went wrong. Another little creature appeared behind me and shot out leeches that attached themselves all over my back. I landed on the ground and saw the other two creatures before hand and just used Nisshoku to slice them. I thought my idea was brilliant, since they were dead, but how wrong was I.

"You're covered, now!" The Hollow appeared behind us and immediately initiated the bombing.

The pain that I was feeling was horrible. Not only had I suffered from being hit in the back, but since the leeches were also sprawled on the floor from where I had cut the little creatures, those went off as well causing those to hit me as well. The Hollow just laughed.

I yelped in pain as I dropped to the ground, feeling my back become wet.

"Great, more blood," I groaned while standing back up, moving my way towards Kuchiki-san.

The Hollow stared at the two of us, "I like that blood-soaked look. You're so cute."

"Are you alright?" I heard Kuchiki-san whisper to me.

"I'll live," I groaned as I placed Nisshoku back in its sheathe.

"I need you to run back to Chad and make sure everything is alright."

I nodded my head, "I understand. But will you be alright?"

"I promised someone, remember."

"Then you better not break that promise."

"I can't take it!" The Hollow shouted as it threw another green creature.

We both ran to avoid the hit, but it just kept throwing more at us while taunting.

"Be safe!" I managed to shout before running towards a wall and jumping to grab the ledge and pulling myself over.

Behind me, I heard the squeaking sounds of the little creatures as they ran after me. Stopping behind a tree, I pulled out Gesshoku and Nisshoku and waited. As soon as I caught a glimpse of the first one, I quickly turned and began to hack them all. I didn't care if the leech bombs were going to be activated, just as long as they didn't reach Chad and the cockatiel.

But to my surprise, they didn't go off.

"The Hollow must have not clicked its tongue or whatever it does to activate the bombs," I contemplated. "Now to find Chad."

I kept running through the trees until I finally made it back to the familiar area where we had left Chad. I jumped and landed back onto the ground only a few feet away from Chad and was caught off guard at what I was seeing. The little creatures were no longer surrounding the cockatiel's cage; they were gone.

"Chad," I walked towards him taking slow steps, fatigue slowly starting to develop. "Everything okay now?"

"Girl!" He shouted once he caught sight of me. "Where is the transfer student?"

"She should be safe now. But still, we should go check up on her," I told him as I started to slowly run past him. He followed right behind me.

"Who are you?" He suddenly asked me as I led him towards the direction that I went through along with Kuchiki-san.

I sighed, "I can't tell you now. But I do promise that you will know soon."

All of a sudden, Chad gasped. In front of us was Kuchiki-san standing next to a metal pole and on the floor was Kurosaki's body.

"I-Ichigo!" Chad shouted in shock. "What's wrong, Ichigo?"

It's not every day you see your male best friend's friend on the floor looking dead.

"Chad!" Kuchiki-san turned around to find the two of us with the cockatiel's cage, "Perfect timing. Hide him and the cockatiel somewhere safe."

"Transfer student, what the heck is this?" Chad questioned.

"Don't worry. He's fighting at this very moment."

I walked towards Kuchiki-san, pulling out the bandages that are inside my boots pockets, "Kuchiki-san, lemme see that wound of yours."

"It's fine. I can take care of it later."

I waved her answer off, "Nonsense. Besides, we don't want it going into your eye."

She didn't reply and I took that as the okay to do it. I stood behind her, seeing that I was way taller than her, and began to wrap a bandage over her forehead. As Chad helped move Kurosaki's body so that it was sitting against the wall, I fixed her wound and began fixing my own as well. That's when the cockatiel spoke about the events that led up to this.

"It's all my fault."

"What?!" Kuchiki turned her attention towards the bird.

"It's my fault. It's my fault you two and Mister got hurt."

"Shibata," came out of Chad's mouth.

"Because I wanted to bring mommy back to life…I'm sorry. I wanted mommy to come back to life, but…but,-"

"Wait," Kuchiki-san cut in. "Did someone say they would bring back your mother? Did someone tell you there was a way to do that?"

Just looking at Shibata answered her question. That Hollow. The Hollow told him that. Just listening to the rest of his story made me tremble in anger; all because of that stupid Hollow. That's when the sky turned red and a door suddenly appeared.

"Kuchiki-san, what's-" I was ready to ask her what it was, but she was no longer there.

The doors quickly closed just as how quickly they opened. Now that she was gone, it was my time to leave.

"Girl!" Chad's voice caught my attention. "Where are you going?"

I turned to look at my best friend, "My help is no longer needed. Besides, you need to help Shibata now. Go check up on Kurosaki and Kuchiki-san."

Just like that, I began to run. I didn't know where I was running to, but I just did. As I ran, I felt the mask slipping off of my face, returning back to the choker. My eyes suddenly felt watery. I was starting to choke my sobs when I finally collapse to the ground, not even thinking about my surrounding anymore.

"Kaede-chan," I felt a hand on top of my head.

I looked up, not caring that tears were rapidly falling from my face. The dark brown eyes that I've known ever since I was a baby was there to comfort me. Ojii-san grabbed my hand and pulled me up into a hug.

"There, there, Kaede-chan. Let it all out," Ojii-san comforted me.

The tears just kept coming. All that I was thinking about was Shibata and how something like this could even happen to children. I opened my eyes and finally realized where I was at. Urahara Shoten. That's how far I ran.

"Ojii-san, I'm good now," I pulled away from him and wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Come, let's have a look at those injuries," Ojii-san led me towards the shop.

He slid the door open and there at the end waiting with tea was Urahara-san. As soon as I sat down next to ojii-san, Urahara-san began pouring tea into the cups in that were placed in front of each of us. I don't know why, but whenever I felt sad, a cup of tea would instantly calm me down. Just as I was about to grab my cup of tea, I was lifted off the ground.

"What the-?" I looked at who was carrying me and found Tessai-san.

"Time to heal you up, Kaede-chan."

The process was interesting. Watching Tessai-san use his reiatsu to heal me made me wonder about how such a thing can do many other things. It can heal a person; it can make you run fast, climb stuff.

Now that that was done, I was _finally_ able to have my tea.

"Kaede-chan," Ojii-san's voice spoke through the silence. "What happened today?"

And I told him and Urahara-san everything. About when I first met Shibata when Chad brought him to school and when I decided to find him at night to see what was odd about the cockatiel. How I decided to help Kuchiki-san fight off a Hollow alongside with Chad.

"I also saw a gate appear out of nowhere. I wasn't able to see it properly from where I was at, but it had two skeletons on the front."

"You saw the gates of hell," Urahara-san said as he pulled out his paper fan. "It only appears if a Hollow that has committed sins in its human life is killed by a zanpakutō."

I nodded my head, now understanding fully what I saw. I placed my cup back on the table and looked up to the two older men.

"I have a question," the two men looked at me. "Why does a mask suddenly appear when a Hollow is around? Ojii-san, you know I dislike using masks."

Ojii-san just smiled, "Kaede-chan, you should know that a true ninja wears a mask on their face. We thought it would look good on you!"

"This is the twenty-first century, old man," I sneered.

"Think about it this way, Kaede-chan. It hides your identity when you aren't wearing something that hides your face," Urahara-san said.

"But still, it's weird."

Ojii-san just patted my back, "You'll get used to it."

"But what happens if the mask comes on when I am in public?" I ask.

"You didn't show her how to use it, Fumito-san?" Urahara-san looked at my ojii-san.

Ojii-san shrugged, "I thought she would be able to figure it out."

Urahara-san stopped waving his fan and looked at the choker, "Since it was the first time it was ever used, it went up on its own. But now that you have an understanding of it, you can control when to put the mask. If you simply tug the charm forward, the mask will come out."

I placed my fingers over the charm and tugged it forward. To my surprise, the mask did pop out.

"To put the mask back down, you simply need to tug the charm twice."

I did what he said and just like that it went down.

"What about if a Hollow is around? How would I know?"

"What was it that you saw and felt when the choker notified you that a Hollow was around?" Ojii-san asked.

"Well, a shocking feeling came over me and a beam of light started directing me. It was really weird."

Urahara-san just smiled, "Only you will be able to see the beam."

"Ah, sounds good to me now that I finally got the instructions on how to properly use this thing."

We went home soon after that. Ojii-san and I walked through the neighborhood back towards home when he suddenly spoke.

"Kaede-chan are you feeling much better now?" His concern was voiced aloud.

I looked up to the now dark sky and told him, "Yes, much better than I did before. Ojii-san?"

"Yes, my maple leaf?"

I smiled at the familiar nickname, "Nothing is going to be the same anymore, is it?"

He sighed, "No and I am so sorry for that. As humans, we must endure some of the most harsh realities in this world. Not everything is good and the good is so rare to find. You are special."

I turned to look at him, "Special?"

"You're going to change the world one day, Kaede-chan. Not only yourself, but others as well."

The next day I felt rather much calm after the events of what happened the day before. After taking my morning shower, I began to get dressed into my school uniform, wearing it the same way as I had done the other day including the necklace. I was about to grab my boots when I decided that I would rather just wear my normal black chucks. Gesshoku and Nisshoku were both placed where they needed to be along with Kiba tucked underneath my shirt.

"Ohayo!" I greeted once down the stairs.

No reply. I went to look around the house to look for my family, but there was no one there. I sighed and headed towards the kitchen to grab breakfast when I noticed a note on the table. Picking it up, it read that otou-san had to go into work early and that ojii-san took okaa-san for a check-up.

"I think I'll skip breakfast today," I mumbled to myself as I went to grab the bento that was left for in the morning. Grabbing my belongings, I made my way to school.

I made my way towards the stairs, once after changing my shoes at school, when I noticed up ahead was someone whose mystery I soon was going to unravel.

"Hey, Kurosaki!" I greeted to the teen as I approached him.

"Ah, Tatsumiya, ohayo," Kuorsaki greeted as we started making our way to class . He turned to look at me and said, "Is that new?"

"Huh?" I questioned, only for him to point at my necklace. "Oh that! Ojii-san gave it to me just yesterday."

He looked at it for a bit, but simply nodded his head, "It looks cool."

"Thanks."

We approached the classroom we were greeted immediately by his two friends.

"Ohayo, Ichigo. Ah, Tatsumiya-chan, ohayo!" Kojima greeted.

"Tatsumiya-chan!" Asano ran towards me and grabbed my hand. "You look lovely as always!"

I was ready to lift my fist up in order to punch him, but Kurosaki beat me to it.

"Thanks, Kurosaki," I smiled at him as I made my way to my seat.

"Anytime."

Class began and there was no sign of Kuchiki-san yet. I didn't find this surprising compared to some of my other classmates, more specifically Mizuiro and Asano. Third period had finally ended when she-who-I-just-thought-of walked right in casually.

"Everyone, good morning," Kuchiki-san smiled.

'No one is that cheerful in the morning,' I thought as she walked in.

"Morning, Kuchiki-san," Kojima greeted her.

"Kuchiki-san, you're sparkling today again," Asano commenced his normal flirting.

"Oi, Asano, quit it already," I told him as I turned to look at the group. "Morning, Kuchiki-san."

"Good morning, Tatsumiya-san."

"This is unusual," Kojima spoke. "Third period ended already."

"I had some family matters," She told him before looking at Kurosaki. "By the way, Kurosaki-kun...do you have a moment?"

Kurosaki got up from where was leaning at and walked towards her, "Huh? What? If you got somethin' to say, say it here-"

Just like that, she punched Kurosaki.

'WHAT THE HELL?!" I thought as Kuchiki-san just punched him in the stomach.

"Are you all right, Kurosaki-kun?" She then began to drag his body by his head and stated, " Oh no, you must go to the nurse's office."

"She hit him just now, right?" Kojima questioned us.

"I didn't see," Asano told him.

"Yup, she did," I bluntly stated before turning around and sighing. 'That girl is something else.'

Class continued on and our sensei didn't even realize that Kurosaki and Kuchiki-san was still missing from class. I'm only guessing that our teacher is a real dunce for not noticing the only male orange-haired student was missing from class. Soon enough though, the bell signally that lunch was starting rang.

"Lunch time!" Orihime-san cheered as she stood up, stretching her arms.

"Finally!" I stood up and walked towards her with my bento.

Tatsuki followed up behind me, "This girl again...Don't get excited just for lunch."

"What're you talking about, Tatsuki-chan? A healthy young high school girl comes to school specifically to eat lunch, you know!"

"Eh, I come for the education, sometimes, but lunch has to go along with it," I somewhat agreed with Orihime-san.

"See! Kaede-chan agrees with me!" Orihime-san told her before striking a weird pose.

"Yeah, yeah...I get it, just sit down," Tatsuki tells her.

"Tatsuki-chan, Kaede-chan, what's your lunch today? I've got bread and sweetbean paste" she pulled out the loaf of bread and can.

"Good girl," Tatsuki placed her hand on her head. "Sorry, but I have a normal lunch."

"Same here, Orihime-san," I stated.

"See, like this I can make my own sweetbean bread."

'Oh Orihime-san,' I shook my head as we arranged the desks so we can eat.

"Good job, well done."

We just then began to eat our lunch. I opened up my bento to find three salmon onigiri waiting for me to slowly devour them. What can I say, I love salmon!

"'Hime!" Oh great, it's Chizuru-san. "Let's eat together!"

Orihime-san paused from eating her bread and looked up, "Sure!"

It was a few seconds before Chizuru-san just jumped and hugged Orihime-san stating something about her being cute since she had crumbs on her cheek. Something like that. It was quite weird actually. I just simply ignored the two and just continued eating my lunch. I went to grab my second onigiri and bite into it when the weirdest thing ever had happened. Kurosaki just appeared in front of us. By in front of us, I mean outside the window as if he jumped up.

"This...is freshman class 3, right?"


	4. The Truth Slowly Unravels

**Hello all! Here is a new chapter of Unintended Consequences. Thank you to all who have taken the time to follow this story and to those who added this story to their favorites. I am just glad that there are actually people reading this fic that I had doubts for at the beginning. This chapter is dedicated to you all. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Bleach, characters and plot lines, belongs to Tite Kubo. Other characters and plot lines belong to me.**

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><p>Chapter 4: The Truth Slowly Unravels<p>

'How the hell did Kurosaki manage to make it up here like that?!' I stared at him as he stood on the window ledge.

Everyone then gathered around to where we were sitting and just stared at Kurosaki. The looks of confusion, awe, and angered ones were plastered on the faces of my classmates. But seriously though, how could Kurosaki manage to do that when he can't even control his reiatsu?

"Y-Y-You there!" Tatsuki was the first to speak, though she mostly stuttered out. "How did you get up here just now?!"

"How? You saw didn't you? I jumped up," Kurosaki calmly told her. "I'm amazing, right? You're shocked, right?"

The look on his face clearly told me that this wasn't Kurosaki. I mean, Kurosaki always looks like he is scowling someone. The face on this individual looked really, really calm. It was kinda freaky. All around me, students were beginning to make up some theories as how to he managed to get up here. Some stating that he probably just came through the window from the class next door. Others stating that he did in fact just jumped up here, but weren't sure since they didn't actually witness him doing it.

"Orihime-san," I whispered to her.

"Hai, Kaede-chan?" Orihime-san turned to look at me.

"Stay behind me at all times," I told her with a serious tone and received my answer as she nodded her head.

As I kept staring at this Kurosaki, his face turned into pure excitement. Like if he was actually happy that people were noticing him. But then his gaze just turned to all the girls in the class. It was such a perverted look that I didn't even know Kurosaki could manage to make. By the time his eyes landed towards the three of us girls, his excitement reached even higher.

"XXXTRA LARGE!" His eyes sparkled with glee.

It was in an instant when he suddenly appeared, pushing me aside making me fall to the ground only to grab onto Orihime-san's hand. I didn't even hear what he was telling her because I was fuming with anger.

'Whoever the hell is in Kurosaki's body is going to wish it never, ever pushed me!' I screamed to myself.

All around me, the girls were just yelling. I looked at their faces and all I saw was them blushing. By now, I finally stood up to only see Tatsuki pulling Kurosaki away from Orihime-san.

"Ichigo," she shouted, "do you realize what you're doing?! You can't just pass it off as a joke!"

The next thing I see is Kurosaki giving Tatsuki a kiss on the cheek. Well, he's done for. Screams started erupting as Tatsuki went into rage mode. She began to grab our desks and just hurled them at Kurosaki, who simply dodged them. It got to the point where Tatsuki threw a desk towards Kurosaki and missed, having the desk instead fly out the now broken window.

"You bastard! Die!" Tatsuki gave out her battle cry as she threw another desk.

"What the heck?! Don't get so upset over a kiss on the cheek What are you, a third grader?" Kurosaki stated as he watched her pick up another desk.

"Shut your hole!"

"Stop them, Chizuru..." Michiru-san tells her while crying.

"Don't be ridiculous. How can I stop a monster?" was her reply.

I sighed and made my way towards Tatsuki. Right when she was about to grab another desk, I quickly snatched her arms and pulled her behind me.

"Stop," I looked down at her, since she was shorter than me. I turned to look at Kurosaki, who was now sitting on a desk, and said to him, "You best leave now before things get worse for you."

Kurosaki just kept staring at me. It was quit unnerving since I kept staring back at him. It was silent for a good minute when he decided to speak.

"Wanna go out on a date, beautiful?"

I've never felt my face get hot and red so fast in my entire life. My classmates, the males mostly, began to holler at the comment that Kurosaki just told me. The Kurosaki in front of me just smirked and used his right hand to move my hair that slightly covered my left eye. It was such an intimate move that I completely froze out of shock. Sure, guys in the past that I dated for a bit did that, but the way that Kurosaki did it was just different. It made my face burn and I am not sure whether it's a good or bad thing.

"What do you say?" He asked as he pulled me in towards him.

"That's enough!" The door was pulled open and Kuchiki-san stood there. She pierced her eyes towards Kurosaki, "You..."

Kurosaki immediately began to freak out and suddenly ran off towards the window. Sadly, I was dragged along with him seeing that he didn't let go of my hand. My face was just blank as he pulled me along with him.

"He's coming, Ichigo!" Kuchiki-san shouted from behind us.

'Wah?'

Just then and there, Kurosaki popped out right in front of us wearing a black garment similar to one that an imaginary friend I had as a child once wore. It was a white kosode that was underneath a black kimono and hakama, and a white obi sash. He also held a rather large sword. I just kept looking back and forth at the two in a state of shock. How could there be two Kurosaki's in front of me and why was it that the rest of the class, besides Kuchiki-san, couldn't see the one that was wearing all black.

"Kurosaki?" I questioned as I looked at him, taking in his whole appearance.

"Tatsumiya?! You can see me?" He looked at me in shock.

I simply nodded my head. Kurosaki then looked away from me to look at the one that was right next to me.

"Come on, nowhere to run," he told him.

The Kurosaki that held on to me finally released his grip, allowing me to move away from him. But no matter what, my eyes was kept glued to the scenario in front of me. Now that I thought of it, I was able to differentiate between the two Kurosaki's. Each of their reiatsu was different. The fake Kurosaki, as I will now call him, glanced back to see whether he could make an escape through the door, but Kuchiki-san blocked his way out. Fake Kurosaki then turned back to look at the real Kurosaki and smirked at him. In a flash, fake Kurosaki brought up his right leg and tried to kick Kurosaki.

The fake Kurosaki was fighting his way out through kicks while the real Kurosaki was able to dodge them. It was a rather interesting fight between the two. I turned back to look at the reactions of my classmates, but they all had confused looks. They couldn't see the real Kurosaki. As the real Kurosaki questioned the fake one as to why he was doing this, he wasn't able to dodge an attack and was kicked right in the face.

"Kurosaki!" I shouted in concern.

He was starting to get the crap kicked out of him now since he couldn't stop any of the attacks that was being given by the fake one. He delivered a final blow which sent Kurosaki plowing towards the desks. Students started freaking out thinking that there was a ghost, but I just ignored them.

"Later!" The fake shouted as he ran off and jumped out of the window. I ran towards the window, hearing someone come stand next to me, and watched as the fake landed perfectly on his feet. The fake turned back to look at us and smirked, just before he took off at an incredible speed.

"What the hell's going on?" The real Kurosaki that was besides me turned to look at Kuchiki-san who was next to him. "What the hell is he..."

"He couldn't be..." Kuchiki-san whispered. "No, he is, without a doubt. He's...a modified soul!"

"Kurosaki..." I suddenly spoke towards him, causing Kuchiki-san to look at me with shock. "Go get him."

Surprisingly, Kurosaki grinned at me. As quick as that grin appeared that was how fast he leaped out of the window to go find what Kuchiki-san called a "modified soul." I turned towards Kuchiki-san and she gave me a look. It was a look that she would soon have a chat with me about what I knew. I nodded my head to her and watched her as she ran off after him. I then turned away from the window and looked at my classmates. I sighed at their reactions and made my way towards Orihime-san, who too was looking out the window. That was when I heard Tatsuki vowing on getting her revenge on Kurosaki.

"Tatsuki-chan," Orihime-san called out to her.

"Orihime?"

"Scary, wasn't it?" Chizuru-san then approached us with a scared look on her face. "There there, 'Hime. It's okay. It's just like getting a little bite from a stray dog."

"That's not it," Orihime-san told her.

"That wasn't Kurosaki," I suddenly said, confirming what Orihime-san was thinking. "C'mon, let's get this classroom cleaned up."

The day continued on as calmly as it possibly could. But of course, everyone was still talking about the whole Kurosaki incident. I sat in my desk semi-listening to our sensei as our lecture continued on. My mind was still wandering over the events that had occurred not that long ago. How was it possible that there were two Kurosaki's? And why is it that no one else was able to see him? Luckily, the day went by much quicker that once school was over, I ran out the class door, quickly changed my shoes and ran home. The trek home was one of the fastest ones that I had ever done since I was a woman on a mission. My house quickly then came into view as I now ran on the street that I lived on. I threw the gate open and the door as well once I approached it.

"Ojii-san!" I shouted once I stepped in and dropped my bag. "OJII-SAN!"

"Kaede! Why are you yelling?!" I gulped at hearing my hormonal okaa-san.

"Ne, 'kaa-san, have you seen ojii-san?" I smiled sweetly at her, hoping that it would calm her down.

"He's at that Urahara Shoten store. Why-" I cut her off by hugging her.

"Thanks 'kaa-san! I'm going out!"

As I ran out of the house, all I heard was her shouting my name in anger. I am in so much trouble once I get home. Running back towards the direction that I first originally came in, I made my way towards Urahara Shoten. My breathing was in control as I made my way through some of my classmates as I ran past them. If ojii-san was at Urahara Shoten, then I could get both Urahara-san and him to answer my questions about what had happened today. Once I saw the sign up ahead that stated the stores name, I slowed down my pace and regained my breath. I walked towards the entrance to see the same two kids from before outside cleaning.

"Ah, Ururu-chan!" I smiled at the little girl that I now was in front of, ignoring the brat next to me who was giving me the stink-eye.

"H-Hello, onee-san," she greeted me.

"Call me Kaede-chan, kay. Do you know if Urahara-san is in with a slightly older man with grey hair?" I asked her.

She nodded her head as she grabbed my hand and lead me into the store. Right there front and center was Urahara-san and ojii-san, both whom were enjoying a bottle of sake.

'Alcoholics.'

"Why if it isn't little Kaede-chan!" Urahara-san greeted me as he pulled out his fan. "What brings you here?"

I took a seat along the edge of the platform and looked at the two, "What is a Modified Soul and why was it in the body of Kurosaki Ichigo?"

The two men looked at each other, as if they were debating on who was going to tell me what it was. Suddenly, ojii-san spoke.

"Kaede-chan, do you remember all those stories I told you about Hollows, the Soul Society and the Seireitei," I nodded. "They are real."

I just stared at him, "What do you mean that it is real? I mean, the monsters I understand, but Soul Society? Seireitei? That would mean that Shinigamis exist and-"

"And that Kurosaki Ichigo is one now," Urahara-san interrupted me.

Hollows exist; there are real places called Soul Society and Seireitei; Shinigami's exist and someone I know is actually one. That's a slap to the face.

"How is it that Kurosaki is a Shinigami?"

Urahara-san's tale then thus began at how Kurosaki became a Shinigami through Kuchiki-san. How a his family was attacked by a Hollow and how the only way for him to save him was to take Kuchiki-san's own power and use it. As I heard the tale, it all became clear as to why his reiatsu was extremely high and noticeable. I sat there quietly to take everything in when I then asked what a Modified Soul was.

"Once, in Soul Society, a plan called Spearhead was brought up. Into the soul-less body of a dead person, a soul specialized for battle was injected. And it was to be used as an anti-Hollow soldier. It was a worthless plan. For that plan, what they developed was a battle-ready soul designed to be able to endow some part of the body with superhuman power just by injecting it. That's what the Mod Soul is. Because of the inhumanity of making dead bodies fight Spearhead was rejected. And simultaneously, all the modified souls in development at the time were ordered to be scrapped," Urahara-san told me that tale.

"They were all destroyed, just like that?" I questioned.

"Sadly, yes."

"But don't they have emotions? They're a soul aren't they!"

"Yes, but a soul that can be dangerous around humans."

After hearing that, I was quiet.

"Kaede-chan, I think it's time for us to go home. Your mother probably has dinner ready for us," Ojii-san said as he stood up. "Arigato, Kisuke-san. Until next time."

"Bye-bye," Urahara-san waved us off as exited the shop.

The two of us walked in silence as we made our way back home. Everything that I just learned was beginning to hit me, hard. I was getting angry at myself; at ojii-san. I wonder if my parents even know whether his stories are true. They probably did. It wasn't long before we made it to our house. Ojii-san was about to open the door when I stopped him.

"I won't ask how you are related to all this," I began to speak, "but when the time comes that I need to know why and how you are involved, I want you to please tell me the truth."

Ojii-san nodded his head and opened the door for us to walk inside. The smell of today's dinner paused us at the entrance. It smelled heavenly.

"And what took the two of you so long?!" Okaa-san appeared right before us.

"Uhhh..." We both looked at one another. We're dead.

After getting scolded by okaa-san and having dinner, I went up to my room to start on my homework. My assignments ranged from mathematics to drawing my future self for art class. I honestly had no idea what I want to be when I am older. So I decided to just draw myself graduating from a university. It took me roughly about two hours to complete my homework before I decided to go and take a shower.

"Ahh, nice and clean," I cheered as I walked back towards my room. I was about to open the door when I felt the presence of someone inside of it. I cautiously opened it and found the one person who I needed to talk to.

"Hello, Kuchiki-san," I greeted her as I walked in.

"Hello, Tatsumiya-san," she greeted from her spot on my window ledge.

"Alright, let's get straight to the point of why you are here," I told her as I went to sit on my bed and began to place on my necklace.

"How is it that you were able to see, Ichigo?"

I ran my fingers through my hair and began to tell my tale, "I've always been able to see spirits ever since as a child. Though my innocence always made me assume that they were imaginary friends that just appeared. The first time I saw a Shinigami, I was saved by that individual, but just thought that it was a new friend whom had special powers."

I made sure to keep out any information about my family, just to be safe, "It was just until today that I learned that Shinigami's are real."

"Are you someone that we can trust? Cause if not, I will have to erase your memory of today's events," she threatened.

"You already trusted me once," I smirked at her.

Kuchiki-san looked completely confused until I decided to reveal my little secret to her. Grabbing onto the charm of my necklace, I tugged the charm once. Instantly I felt a cotton material covering half of my face.

"It was you," she gasped at the realization. I nodded my head as I tugged the charm twice, removing the mask in front of my face.

"Who are you? What are you?"

"I'm Tatsumiya Kaede and I am a ninja from the Tatsumiya clan."

**The Next Day**

"Waah! I'm late!" I shouted as I quickly changed into my uniform. I had no time to carry my two trusty weapons, so I just placed Kiba underneath my shirt. I grabbed my bag from off the floor, went out my room, and down the stairs. Waiting for me by the door was okaa-san and she held a piece of toast.

"Thanks 'kaa-san!" I grabbed the toast and bolted.

As I ran to school, I remembered the night. Kuchiki-san, or Rukia-san as she now wants me to call her, did not erase my memory from the previous day of school. She told me everything that had happened to her and how Kurosaki is now taking care of her duties. That's when she asked me whether I would be able to assist in helping destroying Hollows with Kurosaki. I told her that I couldn't do that. If it was meant for Kurosaki to do, then I would not interfere. Speaking of Kurosaki, I told her not to mention this to him until I was ready to confront him. She accepted my request.

I ran into the school building and quickly changed into my school shoes. Again, I ran up the stairs and into the hallway that would lead me to my class.

"I-I made it," I panted as I leaned against the classroom's doorway.

"Ohayo, Tatsumiya," I heard Kurosaki greet me as he stood behind me.

I turned to look and saw him with a smile on his face, "Ohayo, Kurosaki."

We both walked in and I heard Orihime-san greet him and myself. Kurosaki replied the same way he did when he said good morning to me. I walked over towards the girls and took a seat.

"What's that? What happened?" Michiru-san slightly blushed, "Kuosaki-kun's in such a good mood. Right, Orihime? Orihime?"

Orihime-san nodded her head when Tatsuki asked Michiru-san asked the date. She told her that it was the sixteenth of June. I tuned the girls out as I looked down to the ground, already knowing what Tatsuki was going to say. That calm, smiling look that we were greeted with was his look when he was tensed. Tomorrow is the day he doesn't come to school. Tomorrow, his family and himself go visit the late Kurosaki Masaki, his mother.

The day went by quickly and I was now on my way home. I normally walked with Tatsuki or Orihime-san since we always go the same direction, but today they both had things to do after school. Seeing that today I had no reason to rush anywhere, I took my sweet time walking home.

"Oi, Tatsumiya!" I heard my name being called.

"Huh?" I turned and found Kurosaki walking up to me. "Kurosaki, what's up?"

"Nothing, just wanted to see if you wanted to walk home together since we both go the same direction," he said with a smile.

I smiled back, "Sure."

We were walking quietly towards the direction of our homes, when Kurosaki broke the silence.

"Do you remember how we met when we were in middle school?"

"Of course I do," I grinned at the memory, "You were playing baseball in P.E. and the ball you hit somehow ended up hitting me in the back of my head."

"Then you threatened to and I quote, beat the crap out of me," he smirked.

"What do you expect?" I told him as we stopped at a light. "I was only fourteen and was pissed off from earlier that day."

"Heh, I know. You're a force not to be reckoned with."

"Damn right."

We continued walking until we reached the point where we would separate.

"See you later, Kurosaki," I told him. "Say hello to your family for me."

"Will do," Kurosaki waved and then turned to continue his way home.

I looked back at him for a second and then continued my way home. As soon as I arrived, I went straight up to my room since it was still too early for dinner. Otou-san was probably still at work; okaa-san must have gone out; ojii-san was probably with Urahara-san. I decided that right now would be the best time for me to train. I changed out of my uniform and placed on some sweats and a tank top. Dropping to the floor of my bed, I reached out for the box that held Gesshoku and Nisshoku. Grabbing my precious items, I made my way downstairs and out our back door into the dojo that we owned.

Sliding the paper doors open and taking off my shoes, I walked over the tatami mats that laid all over. Across from me were where we held our training weapons that mostly consisted of bokken and shinai swords of different sizes and there were decorative armor that stood next to them. I walked towards the center and sat down with my weapons placed in front of me. I began my routine of stretches that normally took me about thirty minutes to complete. From there, I began to work on my acrobatics; cartwheels, somersaults, handsprings were done as I moved across the floor. I worked on was my hand-to-hand combat, specifically my kicks. After seeing that modified soul beat the crap out of Kurosaki with just his kicks, I thought that it would be better if I worked more on my hand-to-hand than rather with my dual kodachi.

The whole time there, I didn't hear the rain fall as day slowly turned to night. That's where ojii-san found me. That's where I stay all day after school the next day. That's where my time was spent all weekend, until school started Monday.


End file.
